trove

Etymology

It is a shortening from English of treasure trove.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]} The longer term, dated to the late 14th century by Etymonline and to 1467 by the OED, comes from Anglo-Norman tresor trové (“treasure found”), a translation of Latin thēsaurus inventus.^[3][2][5] In the 15th century it was rendered in English as “treasure found”, and in the 16th the French form was anglicized as “treasure trovey”, “trove” or “trouve”.^[2] The second word is the past participle of Old French trover (“to find”),^[5][3] a verb of unknown origin.^[3] Etymonline mentions Latin turbō (“to disturb”) and a Medieval Latin *tropō (“to compose, sing”) as possible sources.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A valuable find: 1886, in Rudyard Kipling's Consequences, in the Civil and Military Gazette.^[2] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster Unabridged date the word to 1888, and Dictionary.com to 1885–90.^[3][4][9]

Semantic evolution

The full phrase first meant, in law, gold, silver or other valuables found hidden whose owner was unknown;^[2][3] because such finds were usually ancient hoards, it came to mean a treasure hoard in popular use.^[3] The short form took the sense of a valuable find, and then of a source or store of valuable things.^[2][7] Merriam-Webster Unabridged records both a single thing found and, more usually, a collection, often one that was hidden, forgotten or not valued at its true worth, or one deliberately assembled.^[4]

Timeline

• 1886 – a valuable find; a store of valuable things.^[2] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster Unabridged date the word to 1888.^[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A valuable collection or store of things, especially one hidden, forgotten or newly found: a trove of old photographs in the attic.^[4][7][2]
2. Something found; a find.^[4][2]

Related words

• treasure trove
• treasure
• trover

Usage notes

An unrelated Scots trove, a turf cut for fuel or roofing, was recorded in Aberdeenshire and is now obsolete.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)